If you are using social media to collaborate, then I also hope you are using it to cross-collaborate.
What is Cross-Collaboration?
Every one of your customers benefits from your experience with the one that preceded them. So then, why shouldn't they all benefit from every collaborative effort you have that follows? In my mind, this is one way in which a blog or newsletter can add value for all of your clients.
When I am presenting on the topic of social media, one of the most common questions I get is – "what should I blog about?" One of them is to share new insights you have learned through your recent work with a client. The context of industries, companies, and people all differ, yet the challenges of these small businesses are quite often the same. Share the latest news.
First Steps
In order to create a higher value experience for your clients, you have to do something that I believe is rare – debrief each encounter. For some reason, I have found that most people like to just pack up and move on at the close of a meeting. I think this is craziness.
When you consider how difficult it is to attract new clients, it seems logical to take 5 -10 minutes to debrief with yourself (or your relevant staff) and pinpoint what worked, as well as those areas where it may be necessary to double-back to clarify or re-address specific issues.
Yesterday I presented a 4 hour social media workshop to green industry professionals. I took a few minutes when I got back to my hotel room that night to ask myself two simple questions:
- What particular presentation points or stories seemed to resonate with this group?
- What points could I have presented better?
I've already had a conversation with the meeting planner that I will be sending a document to forward to the attendees that will clarify a few points – just to be sure. She loved the idea. Additionally, there was one point that seemed to particularly resonate with this group. So, that will become a future blog post that I will share with the entire community of this blog, which presumably will include some new subscribers from that group.
Some May Not Agree
I know that at least a few of my consultant friends will not agree with this approach; they feel that too much sharing devalues your work. While I understand and can respect that point of view, I have personally found that sharing my new ideas through social media builds my value in the marketplace and leads to more business.
The reason for this is simple. There is no more powerful validation than credible examples of you helping your clients or customers. This backs up your marketing and proves you are making a difference with real customers.
Additionally, when you continuously bring more value to those clients, they are going to do your marketing for you. Customers want to be appreciated and valued, and the best way to do that is to give them more value.
BTW, I am not familiar with the book represented in the image above. I just liked the cover. Though, I believe it serves as a reminder that our blogging words travel around the world, as they are easily translated into many languages thanks to Google Translate.
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until Tomorrow, Jeff
Photo Credit: jlantunez
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